Thinner Medial Temporal Cortex in Adolescents With Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder and the Effects of Stimulants

Lizanne J S Schweren; Catharina A Hartman; Dirk J Heslenfeld; Dennis van der Meer; Barbara Franke; Jaap Oosterlaan; Jan K Buitelaar; Stephen V Faraone; Pieter J Hoekstra

doi:10.1016/j.jaac.2015.05.014

Thinner Medial Temporal Cortex in Adolescents With Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder and the Effects of Stimulants

J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 2015 Aug;54(8):660-7. doi: 10.1016/j.jaac.2015.05.014. Epub 2015 Jun 6.

Authors

Lizanne J S Schweren¹, Catharina A Hartman², Dirk J Heslenfeld³, Dennis van der Meer², Barbara Franke⁴, Jaap Oosterlaan³, Jan K Buitelaar⁵, Stephen V Faraone⁶, Pieter J Hoekstra²

Affiliations

¹ University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands. Electronic address: l.j.s.schweren@umcg.nl.
² University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands.
³ VU University Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
⁴ Radboud University Medical Center, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
⁵ Radboud University Medical Center, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Nijmegen, The Netherlands; Karakter Child and Adolescent Psychiatry University Centre Nijmegen.
⁶ State University of New York Upstate Medical University, Syracuse, New York.

PMID: 26210335
DOI: 10.1016/j.jaac.2015.05.014

Abstract

Objective: Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has been associated with widespread changes in cortical thickness (CT). Findings have been inconsistent, however, possibly due to age differences between samples. Cortical changes have also been suggested to be reduced or to disappear with stimulant treatment. We investigated differences in CT between adolescents/young adults with and without ADHD in the largest ADHD sample to date, the NeuroIMAGE sample. Second, we investigated how such differences were related to age and stimulant treatment.

Method: Participants (participants with ADHD = 306; healthy controls = 184, 61% male, 8-28 years of age, mean age = 17 years) underwent structural magnetic resonance imaging. Participants and pharmacies provided detailed information regarding lifetime stimulant treatment, including cumulative intake and age of treatment initiation and cessation. Vertexwise statistics were performed in Freesurfer, modeling the main effect of diagnosis on CT and its interaction with age. Effects of stimulant treatment parameters on CT were modeled within the sample with ADHD.

Results: After correction for multiple comparisons, participants with ADHD showed decreased medial temporal CT in both left (pCLUSTER = .008) and right (pCLUSTER = .038) hemispheres. These differences were present across different ages and were associated with symptoms of hyperactivity and prosocial behavior. There were no age-by-diagnosis interaction effects. None of the treatment parameters predicted CT within ADHD.

Conclusion: Individuals with ADHD showed thinner bilateral medial temporal cortex throughout adolescence and young adulthood compared to healthy controls. We found no association between CT and stimulant treatment. The cross-sectional design of the current study warrants cautious interpretation of the findings.

Keywords: ADHD; MRI; cortical thickness; long-term effects; stimulant treatment.

Publication types

Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Adolescent
Adult
Age Factors
Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / drug therapy
Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / pathology*
Case-Control Studies
Central Nervous System Stimulants / therapeutic use*
Child
Female
Humans
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Male
Neuroimaging
Temporal Lobe / drug effects
Temporal Lobe / pathology*
Young Adult

Substances

Central Nervous System Stimulants

Grants and funding

R01MH62873/MH/NIMH NIH HHS/United States